Apparatus for decomposing oxids of nitrogen and the like.



P. WINAND.

APPARATUS POR DBGOMPOSING OXIDS 0F NITROGEN AND THE LIKE.

' APPLIUATIQH FILED JULY Z2. 1908. y 1,059,584", l Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

z ann-SHEET 1.

P. WINAND.

APIAEAIUS P0? DEQOMPOSING OXIDS 0F NITROGEN AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22. 190s.

1,059,584. Patented Apr.22,1913. v

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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i EAULWINAND, F COLOGNE, GERMANY. v'

VAPPARATUS FOR. DECOMPOSING OXIDS CFV-NITROGEN AND THE LIKE.

.-To 'all 'whom z't may concern.' y

Be it lmown that I, PAUL WINAND, engil neer, a subject of the King of Belgium, re-

siding at l Suderinannstrasse, Cologne-ontheRhin`e, Germany, have invented. certain p new and useful Improvements in Apparatus ,for Decomposing Oxids of Nitrogen and the Like; and' Iy do hereby declare the following -to be a full,'c1ear,'and exact description of 1g the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art-'to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved process and a paratus for breaking up oxygen compoun s such for example as the oxids of nitrogen, into gaseous mixtures which y are rich in oxygen, by means of partial coinbustion with a fuel.

The invention is particularly applicable for use in connection with internal combustion engines installed on board submarine 'vessels or in inclosed spaces. In such cases it is 'necessary to supply the oxygen required to effect combustion of the explosive inthe g5 engine by means of concentrated oxygen carriers, instead of from the atmosphere,

l,and for this purpose the liquid dioxid of nitro en has been found particularly useful an eflicient, but-'this compound, however, 80 must be -split up into lits gaseous constituents before` being admitted to the engine cylinder, otherwise it would seriously injure the engine.

The object of the present inventionl is to provide a simple and eiiicient method and apparatus, whereby oxygen compounds and moreparticularly dioxid'of nitrogen, can be broken up into its constituents in a convenient, effective, and economical manner.

'F or the purpose of illustrating the invention, and exemplifying a type of apparatus suitable for carrying out the process aforel said reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the apparatus, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3, F ig.'3 is an enlarged vertical section on line 3-3 of Fig. l, Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on line 1 -4 5 0 of Fig. 5, Fig. 5 is a vertical section through Fig. 4, illustrating a modified forno; of cata- .lytic apparatus, and Fig. 6 is-an enlarged sectional view through one end of theiappa.-

vratus illustrating the burner and its appurtenant parts. n,

Referring tothe drawings, which are inspecification of Letters raient.

.cooling fluid, as

Patenten api. 22, ieia.

Application filed July 22, 1908. Serial No. 444,774.

tended to illustrate an ecient type of apparatus for carrying out the invention, 1 iiidicates a generally cylindrical casing of metal or the like, which is divided by a vertical partition, intermediate its ends, into two sections or chambers. The forward chamber 2 is provided with a lining of refractory A material 3 and is in communication. at its inlet end with a burner l0, to be hereinafter more fully described, and at its outlet end with a discharge opening 5 centrally disposed inthe dividing partition 4,' which latter also constitutes a spraying nozzle for will be explained. The second or rearward chamber formed in the-casing l is divided into two Sections, the first or inner section 6 being formed within a receptacle 1 secured to the intermediate partition 4, the initial portion of the chamber 6 being lined with refractory material so disposed as to produce a flaring effect in the chamber 6 toward a tortuous annular outlet 7 formed-by a series of intermeshing which outlet 7 discharges into an outer chamber 8, which in turn connects with the .pipe 9 leading to the internal combustion engine.

Located within the chamber 3 is a catalytic agent 30, which preferably consists of a body of silver substantially filling the rear poi-tion of the chamber 2 and provided with longitudinal channels through which the gases may readily pass. This catalytic niedium may, of course, be constructed in any desired or convenient form, and two satis- .factory forms are illustrated -in Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive. In the 'examples shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the catalytic consists of thin tubes of silver 31, 32, arranged in bundle like form of suiiicient siz'e` to substantially fill the rear end of the combustion chamber 2, the bundle of tubes being held together by surrounding it at appropriate intervals with bands of silver wire. The tubes 3l are provided with peripheral flanges which serve as distance pieces to space them from the alternating plain tubes 32. The bundle of tubes is disposed in the chamber 2 with the axes of the tubes in the direction of the current of gases flowing through the apparatus.

Secured to the forward end of the casing 1 is a burner 10 adapted to supply fuel and the oxygen carrier to the apparatus. The burner, shown in detail in Fig. 6J comprises a nipple-like portion l0 suitablysecured to the en d of the casing 1, which nipple has a baiiles, I

central channel 11, the inner or discharge end of which is ared outwardly, and in said channel 11 there is located a central pin or stud 12 having a flared end or head 13, adjustable within the flared end of the channel l1 to form a flaring inlet discharge opening 14 into the combustion chamber 2. Con- Acentrically disposed with respect to the oxygen carrier. As indicated in Fig. 6, the

central stud or pin 12 is preferably hollow in order to permit the same to be maintained cool by .means of a circulation of water therethrough, which iselfected by an inlet pipe 17 andL an outlet pipe 18.

As hereinbefore indicated the chamber 1 is divided by a central partition 4, which latter is constructed as a hollow annulus with a central aperture 5 to permit the gases to pass from chamber 2 into chamber 6, 4said annulus having a discharge orifice. adjacent the opening 5 to constitute a spraying noz- :zle for the purpose of cooling the gases, water being supplied to said spraying nozzle 4 by means of a pipe 40. The supply pipe 22 for the -oxygen carrier may lead directly from the reservoir, containing the latter, to the chamber 20 in the burner, or in the alternative, it may be conducted through the hollow chamber 23 surrounding the outlet l pipe 9 for the purpose of heating the material before it passes to the burner. u

Instead'of the particular form of catalytic device, illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5 may be employed, the latter comprising corrugated silver plates 34 separated by ,flat plates 33, the whole being so constructed as to substantially fill the rear portion of the combustion chamber 2 and afford a series of longitudinal channels through which the gases pass.

In carrying out the improved process, with the apparatus hereinbcfore described, for the purpose of splitting up dioxid of nitro gen, for example, the fuel and the dioxid are introduced and commingled in'the combustion chamber 2 by means of the burner 10, the fuel preferably being introduced as a liquid,such as fuel oil, supplied by pipe 15 and forced out of the burner in a divergent conical spray through the outlet 14 where it meets and commingles with the gaseous oxygen carrier supplied by a pipe 22 to the chamber 20 and directed into the combustion ehambei 2 in the form of a convergent spray through the burner openings 21 adjacent t0 and surrounding the fuel outlet 14, whereby it breaks up and envelops the fuel and is so commingled therewith that either complete or partial combustion may be effected, the temperature being regulated to the desired degree by means of wateradmitted by the pipe 40 to the jetting device 4.

As is well known in the art, dioxid of nitrogen, for example, may be completely broken up into its constituents by combustion, but this may be effected only at. exceedingly hightemperatures, something more than 15000 C. being required, ,and such temperature can only be effected by a considerable expenditure of fuel and dioxid of nitrogen. According to the present invention, however, the dioxid of nitrogen is partially broken up by a direct combustion in the chamber 2, the products being oxid'of nitrogen (NO) and oxygen (O), the reaction taking place at the comparatively low temperature of 600 C. The oxid of nitrogen is subsequently split up into nitrogen and oxygen by means of the catalytic agent located in the combustion chamber.

'The preliminarybreaking up of the oxygen carrier by direct combustion with a suitable liquid fuel is effected in the forward portion' of the combustion chamber 2, and the gaseous products are then forced through the channels of the catalytic agent 30 where a complete dissociation of the NO is effected.

On account of the exo-thermic quality of the oxid of nitrogen the temperature is increased bythe catalytic action. The silver tubes or plates constituting the catalytic agent beinggood conductors of heat serve to'distribute the heat generated by this catalytic aetion uniformly throughout the body of the catalytic and thereby produce a relatively large hot zone in the combustion chamber, in which complete decomposition of the gases is effected. In order to effect an economical operation of the process and apparatus, it is desirable, of course, to maintain the temperature throughout the body of the catalytic at the critical point for effecting a breaking down of the oxid of nitrogen. The tubular form of the catalytic illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 has been found quite satisfactory for this purpose,.but the construction of the catalytic body illustrated in Figs. 4 4and 5 is sometimes preferable, as this arrangement of alternate corrugated and fiat plates of silver serves to produce a somewhat more regular and equable distribution of the heat, inasmuch as the `heat generated by the catalytic action will be lconducted throughout the body of the catalytic, both longitudinally and .transversely by the peculiar arrangement of the plates, and the gases passing through the intermediate channels will be subjected at all points to a substantially or uniform heat sufficient to effect decomposition.

It will be particularly noted, in carrying l out the process that the preliminary com= bustion of the oxygen carrier with a fuel is effected at a relatively low temperature which serves to partially breakup the oxygen carrier and that the subsequent or complete breaking up of the latter into its con- 4products of the preliminary combustion,

which latter comprise carbonio acid and Water, passthrough the central orice 5 in the jetting apparatus 4, Where atomized water admitted through' pipe 40 and vapor ized Within the jetting device by the heat of the apparatus, serves to cool the gases to a temperature suitable to admit of their being used in the combustion engine. In the chamber 6 and labyrinth passage 7 a thorough mixing of the gases is etl'ected and superfluous steam or watery vapor condensed, after which the mixture cooled to the desired temperature and diluted as required bymeans of steam or the like is conducted to the combustionengine or other desired point of use by means of pipe 9.

Although the invention has been described in connection with the particular form of apparatus illustrated, it will be understood that said invention is not limited to such apparatus but that the latter may be varied within wide limits without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Vhat l claim is :w

l. In an apparatus for breaking up oxygen compounds such as dioxid of nitrogen into a gaseous mixture rich in oxygen, the' combination with a combustion chamber, a catalytic therein, and a burner discharging into the said combustion chamber and having two passages respectively connected With a fuel supply and with a supply of the compound to be decomposed and having concentric and mutually converging dis charge ends.

2. In an apparatus :tor breaking up oxygen compounds such as dioxid of nitrogen into a gaseous mixture rich in oxygen, the combination with a combustion chamber, et a burner discharging into the said combustion chamber-.and having two passages respectively connected with a fuel supply and with. a supply of the compound to be dccomposed, and a catalytic located within the said combustion chamber and adapted to be traversed by the gases.

3. In an apparatus for breaking up oxygen compounds such as dioxid of nitrogen into a gaseous mixture rich in oxygen, the combination with a combustion chamber, of a burner discharging into the said combustion chamber and having two passages respectively connected with a fuel supply and with a supply ot the compound to be decomposed, and a catalytic made up of a body of silver and having passages adapted to be traversed by the gases.

it. in an apparatus for breaking up oxygen compounds such as dioxid of nitrogen into a gaseous mixture rich in oxygen, the combination with a combustion chamber7 means vt'or supplying fuel and the compound to be decomposed in the form ot spray into said combustion chamber, and a catalytic disposed in said combustion chamber and having a series of passages adapted to be traversed by the gases.

in testimony whereof I have atiixed my n signature, in presence ot two Witnesses.

PAUL WINANB,

Witnesses:

Louis VANnouN, li. S'runrnie. 

